Video Gaming: Representations of Femininity

Since the 1980s, researchers have examined femininity in video games, in terms of both the physical representations of female characters and the roles female characters occupy within video games. Video games are important symbolic sites for conveying messages about appropriate gender roles and perceptions of social reality. Additionally, video games increasingly are used in educational settings and are important for developing children's media literacy and digital skills. In general, researchers have examined femininity in video games through both quantitative and qualitative research methods. Content analyses of female characters show that the most popular available video games tend to portray negative representations of femininity. Female characters are highly sexualized, represented with overly exaggerated feminine features (such as large breasts and small waists), and wear revealing clothing to draw attention to these features. Female characters also tend to play passive roles within the games, as submissive characters, victims of violence, or damsels in distress. In the 1990s, several female-owned video game companies marketed games to a female, primarily youth, audience as a strategy for challenging the dominant representations of female characters in video games. These “girl games” offered different types of stories and female characters. Despite progress in marketing video games to a female audience, the most popular video games available continue to have negative portrayals of femininity.

The history of female characters in video games can be traced back to the 1980s, with the development of the arcade game Ms. Pac-Man. Designed to attract female players, this maze game emphasized hand-eye coordination. The only feminine feature of Ms. Pac-Man was a red bow on her head. Advancements in graphics technology in the 1980s led to games that featured human characters. While female characters were noticeably absent from early video games, the introduction of Chun-Li in Streetfighter 2 helped to popularize the practice of providing a range of female characters that players could select to play.

Research on video games stresses the importance of how representations differ by video delivery system and genre. Video delivery systems include personal computers (PC), video game consoles, arcades, and handheld devices. The rise of the Internet in the 1990s led to online gaming that included interactivity among players. Massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs), such as World of Warcraft and Second Life, allow users to create their own avatars and interact in constructed spaces with other players. MMORPGs offer a range of female characters from which players can choose. However, many of the female characters tend to be hypersexualized. Video games also differ in their content. Video game genres are distinguished by the method of game play and the set of challenges presented to the player. Some of the most popular genres include action, adventure, role-playing, simulation, and [Page 408]strategy games. Despite differences in genres, the most violent games tend to be the best-selling.

Most of the research on representations of femininity in video games tends to focus on violent video games. Quantitative content analyses of popular mainstream video games suggest that female characters are underrepresented in video games. When female characters do appear, their appearance is characterized by “hyperfemininity,” typified by traits such as overly large breasts, small waists, and revealing clothing. Not only are female characters physically represented in stereotypical ways; their roles within video games tend to be passive. Female characters are often victims of violence, submissive “damsels in distress” who are rescued by male protagonists. For example, in the controversial video game Grand Theft Auto: Sin City, players can have sex with a prostitute, then kill her and take their money back. Finally, the sexualized representations of female characters tend to appeal to male players, who often rate female characters in video games by their sex appeal.

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